More vehicles but breathing will be easier

Stacy Shelton - Staff

Twenty-five years from now, metro Atlantans still will be stuck in traffic but the air they breathe should be a lot cleaner.

That's according to computer tests run on the region's $53 billion long-term transportation improvement plan, which has been validated by federal transportation and environmental officials.

If accurate, emissions from metro Atlanta's cars, trucks, trains and planes will meet a new and tougher federal air quality standard as early as 2007, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

And by 2030, after an additional 2 million people and their cars and trucks have moved in, the estimated pollution from all those vehicles is expected to be a fraction of what's produced today.

"Cars are just getting significantly cleaner and cleaner, and it's outweighing the increase of cars on the road," said Tracy Clymer, air quality program manager for the Atlanta Regional Commission, the region's planning agency that decides how transportation dollars are spent.

Georgia already requires gas stations in 45 counties in and around metro Atlanta to sell a super low-sulfur, smog-reducing fuel. Next year, federal rules for diesel fuel and diesel engines start kicking in to reduce pollution from 18-wheelers and other heavy-duty trucks.

But improved technology is not the only reason metro Atlantans will get a clearer view of their growing skyline, EPA environmental engineer Lynorae Benjamin said.

More commuters are expected to jump on MARTA and suburban express buses. "It's just a combination of things," Benjamin said.

Among the other air-cleaning devices metro Atlantans can expect to see over the next few years:

> Electric hook-ups for truck drivers at truck stops in metro Atlanta, at a cost of $5.6 million in federal and state dollars.

> Cleaner school buses in metro Atlanta, at a cost of $2.5 million, most from the federal government. Three hundred school buses in 15 school districts will be fitted with pollution controls.

> Early arrival of low-sulfur diesel, which is not required by EPA until 2006. The program will bring the fuel in sooner at a cost of $4.7 million.

David Farren, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center whose litigation forced EPA to downgrade metro Atlanta's air quality and tighten restrictions, said he's not convinced the region will follow the plan or meet the pollution reductions.

"It's easy to take credit for something that you promise in the future, but it's another thing to actually deliver on those promises," Farren said.

The last 25-year plan envisioned commuter rail spiraling out of downtown Atlanta to Athens, Macon and other destinations. Now the goal is Lovejoy.

And emissions estimates have been inaccurate in the past. Last year, the EPA had to significantly increase its emissions estimates for the region after learning that more metro Atlantans drive SUVs than the national average, among other findings.

The air quality improvements are the good-news part of the region's transportation plan, called Mobility 2030. While the 25-year plan calls for spending billions in federal, state and local dollars to widen highways, add sidewalks and create suburban express bus systems, traffic is expected to get worse.

It barely keeps up with anticipated growth and does not add any new MARTA rail.

--- Staff writer Janet Frankston contributed to this report.

MAKING GROUND

Pollution from cars, trucks, planes and trains is expected to decrease in the next 25 years, even though many more people will move to the 13-county metro Atlanta region. More efficient engines, cleaner fuels and increased transit ridership are expected to reduce nitrogen oxide, a smog-forming pollutant emitted by vehicles.

Population.... Up 53%

2005.......... 3,921,300

2030.......... 6,005,300

Trips..........Up 52%

2005.......... 9,079,131

2030.......... 13,753,776

NOx............Down 83%

2007.......... 246.33 tpd

2030.......... 41.96 tpd

Note: Vehicle trips are average number of trips taken per day.

Nitrogen oxide is shown in tons per day (tpd).

Source: Atlanta Regional Commission

/ MICHAEL DABROWA / Staff